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Business valuations
We offer expert valuation advice in transactions, regulatory and administrative matters, and matters subject to dispute – valuing businesses, shares and intangible assets in a wide range of industries.
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Capital markets
You need corporate finance specialists experienced in international capital markets on your side if you’re buying or selling financial securities.
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Complex and international services
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Corporate insolvency
Our corporate investigation and recovery teams can help you manage insolvency situations and facilitate the best outcome.
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Debt advisory
An optimal funding structure for your organisation presents unprecedented opportunities, but achieving this can be difficult without a trusted advisor.
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Forensic and investigation services
We provide investigative accounting and litigation support services for commercial, matrimonial, criminal, business valuation and insurance disputes.
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Independent business review
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IT forensics
Effective ESI analysis is integral to the success of your business. Our IT forensics experts have the technical expertise to identify, preserve and interrogate electronic data.
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Mergers and acquisitions
Grant Thornton provides strategic and execution support for mergers, acquisitions, sales and fundraising.
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Raising finance
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Relationship property services
Grant Thornton offers high quality independent advice on the many financial issues associated with relationship property from considering an individual financial issue to all aspects of a complex settlement.
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Restructuring and turnaround
Grant Thornton’s restructuring and turnaround service capabilities include cash flow, liquidity management and forecasting; crisis and interim management; financial advisory services to companies and parties in transition and distress
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Transaction advisory
Our depth of market knowledge will steer you through the transaction process. Grant Thornton’s dynamic teams offer range of financial, commercial and operational expertise.
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Virtual asset advisory
Helping you navigate the world of virtual currencies and decentralised financial systems.
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Corporate tax
Grant Thornton can identify tax issues, risks and opportunities in your organisation and implement strategies to improve your bottom line.
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Employment tax
Grant Thornton’s advisers can help you with PAYE (payroll tax), Kiwisaver, fringe benefits tax (FBT), student loans, global mobility services, international tax
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Global mobility services
Our team can help expatriates and their employers deal with tax and employment matters both in New Zealand and overseas. With the correct planning advice, employee allowances and benefits may be structured to avoid double taxation and achieve tax savings.
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GST
GST has the potential to become a minefield and can be expensive when it goes wrong. Our technical knowledge can help you minimise the negative impact of GST
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International tax
International tax rules are undergoing their biggest change in a generation. Tax authorities around the world are increasingly vigilant, especially when it comes to global operations.
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Research and Development
R&D tax incentives are often underused and misunderstood – is your business maximising opportunities for making claims?
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Tax compliance
Our advisers help clients manage the critical issue of compliance across accountancy regulations, corporation law and tax. We also offer business and wealth advisory services, which means we can provide a seamless and tax-effective offering to our clients.
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Tax governance
Mitigate tax risks and implement best practice governance that will stand up to IRD scrutiny and audits.
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Transfer pricing
Tax authorities are demanding transparency in international arrangements. We businesses comply with regulations and use transfer pricing as a strategic planning tool.
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Audit methodology
Our five step audit methodology offers a high quality service wherever you are in the world and includes planning, risk assessment, testing internal controls, substantive testing, and concluding and reporting
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Audit technology
We apply our audit methodology with an integrated set of software tools known as the Voyager suite. Our technology has been developed to produce quality audits that are effective and efficient.
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Financial reporting advisory
Our financial reporting advisers have the expertise to help you deal with the constantly evolving regulatory environment.
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Business architecture
Our business architects help businesses with disruptive conditions, business expansion and competitive challenges; the deployment of your strategy is critical to success.
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Cloud services
Leverage the cloud to keep your data safe, operate more efficiently, reduce costs and create a better experience for your employees and clients.
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Internal audit
Our internal audits deliver independent assurance over key controls within your riskiest processes, proving what works and what doesn’t and recommending improvements.
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IT advisory
Our hands on product experience, extensive functional knowledge and industry insights help clients solve complex IT and technology issues
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IT privacy and security
IT privacy and security should support your business strategy. Our pragmatic approach focuses on reducing cyber security risks specific to your organisation
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Payroll assurance
Our specialist payroll assurance team can conduct a review of your payroll system configuration and processes, and then help you and your team to implement any necessary recalculations.
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PCI DSS
Our information security specialists are approved Qualified Security Assessors (QSAs) that have been qualified by the PCI Security Standards Council to independently assess merchants and service providers.
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Process improvement
As your organisation grows in size and complexity, processes that were once enabling often become cumbersome and inefficient. To maintain growth, your business must remain flexible, agile and profitable
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Procurement/supply chain
Procurement and supply chain inputs will often dominate your balance sheet and constantly evolve for organisations to remain competitive and meet changing customer requirements
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Project assurance
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Risk management
We understand that growing companies need to establish robust internal controls, and use information technology to effectively mitigate risk.
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Robotic process automation (RPA)
RPA is emerging as the most sophisticated form of automation used to help businesses become more agile and remain competitive in the face of today’s ongoing digital disruption.
How can Not for Profit organisations build resilience in times of acute disruption?
Brent Kennerley
28 Jun 2020
In this brave new world, Not for Profits, like most Kiwi organisations, are struggling to deal with the urgencies of today while building resilience for tomorrow.
The impact that disruption has on NFPs is profound given that this sector traditionally has to do more with less in standard economic conditions.
Now, NFP industry leaders are charged with the mission-critical task of identifying not only the short-term, but the long-term issues impacting their industry, and to define the actions needed to navigate unprecedented uncertainty.
The top 8 immediate impacts
The instant impacts we are seeing in the short term are wide ranging:
- Immediate loss across a variety of revenue streams including membership/services and earned revenue
- Additional expense and operational complexity to continue service delivery, deploy a remote workforce, and to operate across local, regional, national and international jurisdictions. Contractual third-party relationships may also be strained
- A reduction and/or changes to the way mission related services are delivered to communities and constituents
- The wellbeing and subsequent disenfranchisement and dilution of the workforce
- Portfolio volatility and changes in endowment spending
- Compromises to financial, operational and technology controls
- Difficulties in meeting regulatory obligations and deadlines
- Risk of non-compliance with stakeholder reporting requirements and engagement
There are some levers that NFPs can pull to stem the tide of immediate negative impacts on their organisations. Currently, cashflows and other forecasting models need to be revised and redeveloped. Leaders need to consider if any non-critical assets can be used to fund cash shortfalls and look at work force strategies that not only ease pressure on cash flow but will still deliver on the organisation’s purpose. These strategies also need to be balanced with the safety and wellbeing of team members, volunteers, communities and constituents. The Government has set up a COVID-19 Community Awareness and Preparedness Fund Grant, and injected an additional $27m into the sector for select social services.
Communication is also key; crisis communication plans for both donors and team members need to be executed. You team members also need to be across polices about remote work arrangements, and any potential operational, financial and technology control gaps need to be assessed against a remote working environment.
An immediate focus also needs to remain on stakeholder access to quality programmes and services.
Building resiliency in the long term: 3 critical impact areas
Resiliency starts with a commitment to identifying and mitigating risk factors that can further disrupt an organisation. For example, as COVID-19 moves with rippling effects to every aspect of society, it will cause potential longer-term implications that need to be addressed; here’s three impact areas that we see as critical.
1. Liquidity and cashflow management
The impact
Many Not for Profits will discover that their ‘new normal’ has delivered operational complexity along with an outsized expense structure. Uncertainty around the type and amount of revenues going forward will also contribute to this challenge, and current financial and operational models that no longer reflect reality will limit the effective management of the organisation on an ongoing basis. Working capital is also likely to be constrained along with the capability of any investment portfolios that provide operational support. And course, these factors lead to the inability to demonstrate financial health to external parties to meet debt covenants.
The opportunities
Not for Profits can build resilience in this area by:
- Preserving and managing cashflow, and revisiting lending terms
- Assessing the composition and performance of any investment portfolios and revaluating reserve levels and funding strategies
- Revisiting the organisation’s strategy by considering strategic revenue enhancement and cost reduction opportunities
2. Supply and demand
The impact
Changes in the way programmes and services are delivered can put a strain on tools and technology. The labour, materials and infrastructure needed to deliver on an organisation’s purpose in times of disruption will also cause a lack of alignment between services, programmes and capacity.
The opportunities
Identifying areas in the market where there is duplication of effort is often overlooked as a cost saving strategy for Not for Profits. Building strategic alliances with like-minded organisations with a similar mission and purpose can enable pooling of resources, sharing of costs and even some bargaining power when negotiating contracts with suppliers.
3. People
The impact
NFPs’ workforce expectations and culture will evolve along with the pandemic, which means people strategies will need to change as well; this often starts with managing team members’ expectations while making any necessary updates to their compensation, benefits and contracts. Managing a changing internal culture will also require increased stakeholder communication along with extra support for mental and physical health and wellbeing.
The opportunities
Investing in workforce optimisation and transformation is a highly effective way of building resilience within an organisation, regardless of industry. In the meantime, regular and transparent communication with team members needs to be a priority; good communication strategies help nurture great cultures. Part of this will involve ensuring that particular policies are up to date, clearly communicated and accessible for all staff. A good place to start is the organisation’s formal working from home policy which should include provisions for future organisational, structural and delivery scenarios.
And don’t forget that there are organisations out there who want to support the NFP sector so that the great work charitable organisations are doing for our communities can continue. Microsoft is offering Office 365 E1 free for 6 months to volunteers; this package includes Teams as well as email, file storage and more. Teams will be particularly useful for maintaining a healthy culture and level of communication; its video conferencing facility and other collaboration tools can make “business as unusual” feel a lot more like business as usual. Communitynet Aotearoa have published a fantastic range of resources about working from home as well.
Communicate. Collaborate. Innovate.
Above all during this time of uncertainty, now is as good a time as ever for not for profits to create open channels of communication with each other and other stakeholder groups. Innovative solutions for different ways of working and delivering services will require strong, collaborative relationships - both old and new.
